Tennis-racket case or cover.



A. J. BRAUER. TENNIS RAOKET CASE 0R COVER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.3, 1913.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPN c0.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

ARTHUR J. BRAIl'ER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TENNIS-RAGKET CASE on coves.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Mar. 24., 1914..

App1ication filed March 3, 1913. Serial N 0. 751,803.

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. BnA'pER, a citizen of the United States, and residingat St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tennis-Racket Cases or Covers, of which the following 1s a speclficatlon. I

This invention relates to cases or covers.

for tennis rackets and the like.

A tennis racket cover is usually provided with a side opening closed by a flap, which flap is usually secured in closed position by a suitable fastener. In opening the flap to withdraw the racket, and in withdrawlng the racket through the side opening, the fabric is liable to tear and the stitched seam is liable to rip at the ends of the openlng and at the points where the ends of the flap are stitched or joined to the body of the cover.

The objects of this invention therefore are to to construct a tennis rack cover which is provided with end reinforcing means of simple construction so as to preventtearing or ripping at the ends of the openlng and the flap when the flap is opened or when the racket is withdrawn.

Further objects will appear from the detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a tennis racket cover embodying this invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the upper end of the cover with the flap raised, Fig. 3 is an enlargedv detail view of the cover near one of the ends of the flap showing the reinforcing means, Fig. 1 is an inside perspective view of the cover showing the flap raised and showing the connection of the reinforcing means with the body and binding of the cover, Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the arrangement of the ends of theflap re1nforc-v ing binding with the edge bindmg of the cover, and Fig. 6 is a perspectlve view partly in section showing the relative arrangement of the binding for the outside edge of the cover, the edge binding for the opening and the binding for the flap.

Referring to the accompanying drawlng 1O designates a tennis racket cover the body of which is composed of layers of canvas or any other suitable fabric or material seamed together by a line of stitches 9.' A blndlng 11 extends around the outside edge of the cover body and is secured by a line of stitches 12 passing through the binding and through the layers of material forming the body. A

side opening 13 is formed in the cover and the lower edge of this opening is provided with an edge binding 1 1 secured by a line of stitches 15, while the ends of this binding extend underneath the outside binding 11 and are secured by the lines of stitches 9 and 12.

The layer ofmaterial 16 forming one side of the upper part of the cover extends over 7 and below the opening 13 to form a flap 17 This flap is provided with an edge binding 18 secured by a line of stitches 19 and the ends 20 of this binding extend underneath the outside binding 11. The ends 20 extend for short distances along the edge of the cover and are secured in position by means of the lines of stitches 9 and 12. The flap 17 is formed-of a double thickness of material as shown in Fig. 3 and the upper edge of the inside layer is provided with a binding 21 stitched thereto by a line of stitches 27, a line of stitches 28 also passing through the binding and through the outside layer of the flap. The ends 22 of the binding 21 extend underneath the outside edge bind ing 11 and for shortdistances along the edge of the cover and these ends are secured by means of the lines of stitches 9 and 12. The binding 21 extends in an are along the lower face of the flap 17 as shown in Fig. 2. The body of the cover and the flap are provided with cooperating members 23 and 21 forming a snap fastener. A handle 25 is secured to the cover by means of rivets 26.

In the manufacture of the cover the bindings 1 1, 18 and 21 are sewed on the fabric before the two layers of material comprising the cover are sewed together. In sewing the layers together the ends 20 and 22 are tucked between these layers and secured in position by the line of stitches 9. When the outside binding 11 is sewed on, the line of stitches 12 will also pass through the ends 20 and 22 and firmly secure these ends. The bindings 141-, 18 and 21 provide means for reinforcing the cover at the ends of the opening. It will be noted that the ends 22 of the binding 21 on the inside face of the flap extend therefrom at the ends of the side opening closed by the flap, underneath the outside edge binding, in a direction opposite to the direction which the flap is moved to open it, and therefore in a direction opposite to the direction of pull on the flap. When the flap is opened the strain will not come on the fabric or on the stitches in such a way as to rip the seams, but this strain will come on the binding 21 which is secured at its ends by comparatively long lines of stitches to the body of the cover and to the outside binding 11. In view of the fact that the binding -21 extends completely across the flap in an arc the strain is uniformly distributed over the entire canvas cover body. These'bindings are made of leather or other suitable tough material which will not tear.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of this invention and it is therefore to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific construction shown and described.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is: V

1. A tennis racket cover having a side opening, a flap for said opening, and a binding running across and secured to the inside face of said flap and extending therefrom at the ends of said opening along the edges of the cover body in a direction opposite to the direction which the flap is moved to open it, and secured to the body along the edges thereof to form reinforcing means.

2. A tennis racket cover having an outside edge binding and a side opening, a flap for said opening, and a binding on said flap extending therefrom at the ends of said opening along the edges of the cover body and underneath said outside edge binding in a direction opposite to the direction which the flap is moved to open it, and secured underneath said outside edge binding to form reinforcing means.

.3. A tennis racket cover having an outside edge binding and a side opening, a flap for said opening, and a binding on said flap running in an arc across and secured to the inside face of said flap and extending therefrom at the ends of said opening along the edges of the cover body and underneath said outside edge binding in a direction opposite to the direction which the flap is moved to open it, and secured underneath said outside edge binding to form reinforcing means.

42. A tennis racket cover having a side opening, a flap for said opening, and bindings on said flap extending in opposite directionsfrom the ends of said flap an d along the edges of the body and stitched to the body of the cover at the ends of said opening to form reinforcing means.

5. A tennis racket cover having an edge binding and a side opening, a flap for said opening, and bindings on said flap extending in opposite directions from the ends of said flap and along the edges of said body and underneath said edge binding to form reinforcing means.

6. A tennis racket cover having an edge binding and a side opening, a flap for said opening, bindings on said flap extending in opposite directions from the ends of said flap and along the edges of said body and underneath said edge binding, and a binding for the edge of said opening extending under neath said edge binding.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of these two witnesses.

ARTHUR J. BRAUER. \Vitnesses J. H. BRUNINGA, O. J. GRoEBL, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O." 

